Sri Lanka to go ahead with IAEA stipulations over Kudankulam

"Under article 9 we proposed the signing of an agreement or MoU with India", Champika Ranawaka the minister of power and energy told reporters here today.

He was commenting on the first round of talks between India and Sri Lanka on comprehensive civil nuclear cooperation held in New Delhi on October 12 amid concerns here on the safety measures instituted at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu.

During the discussions, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the uses of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes to mutually benefit the people of the two countries.

The next round of talks would be held in Colombo in the first half of 2013.

Ranawaka said Sri Lanka would go along with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidelines on nuclear safety.

Ranawaka said irrespective of Indian consent to sign a MoU with Sri Lanka, the country would go ahead with international safety measures of the IAEA.

"We are going to implement a disaster management action plan with the help of IAEA. They have given us an alarm system which we have installed measuring the radiation levels along the coastal belt," Ranawaka said.

He said since 2010 India and Sri Lanka have exchanged documents with regard to nuclear safety.

Concerns have been raised in Sri Lanka on adverse affects from radiation in the coastal areas of the island due to the close proximity of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant.

"It is the sovereign right of India to have nuclear energy sites and it is Sri Lanka's sovereign right to protect our people," Ranawaka said.